West Trenton Line (NJ Transit)

This article is about the proposed New Jersey Transit line. For the SEPTA Regional Rail line, see West Trenton Line (SEPTA).
West Trenton Line
Legend
 to Newark Penn Station
 Bridgewater
 Raritan Valley Line
 Hillsborough
 Belle Mead
 Hopewell
 I-95 Hopewell
 West Trenton
 to Philadelphia

The West Trenton Line is a planned commuter rail service that would be operated by New Jersey Transit (NJT), connecting West Trenton Station in Ewing, New Jersey with Newark Penn Station in Newark, New Jersey. The route would connect with the Raritan Valley Line at Bridgewater and the West Trenton SEPTA Line at West Trenton. As of 2007, NJT's estimate of the cost of creating a passenger line to West Trenton was $219 million.[1] To date, no funding for the proposal has been secured.[1]

Historically, this was a property of the Reading Company. This line carried the Reading's Crusader and Wall Street trains, which originally operated as through service from Reading Terminal in Philadelphia to Jersey City. The Baltimore and Ohio's Royal Blue to Washington, D.C. and other trains to Chicago or St. Louis traveled on this line as well. Conrail then operated the service under contract to SEPTA and NJT using Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDC) until 1981. NJT then continued operating the RDCs until November 1982, when service ended due to dwindling ridership.

Further information: SEPTA diesel service

Presently, the route is owned by CSX Transportation; all station platforms have been removed except at West Trenton, which is currently used by the SEPTA West Trenton Line, a commuter line to Philadelphia.

Proposed Stations

The Belle Mead Station originally used by the Reading Railroad

Trains would continue along the Raritan Valley Line from Bridgewater to Newark Penn Station.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "West Trenton Line". NJ Transit. Retrieved 2011-11-12.

External links